According to information released by the United States Department of Defense on June 22, 2020, U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) executed a passing exercise with Tunisian naval counterparts in the Mediterranean Sea, June 13, 2020. Porter and the Tunisian vessels OPV Jugurtha 610 and fast attack craft FPB Hamilcar 505 participated in tactical formation sailing as well as simulated replenishments-at-sea.
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U.S. sailor assigned to Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) watches Tunisian fast attack craft FPB Hamilcar 505 during a passing exercise between the U.S. Navy and Tunisian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, June 13, 2020. (Picture source U.S. DoD)
U.S. Navy vessels routinely conduct training with allies and partners in order to increase capacity and capability as we work together to strengthen regional ties.
Porter recently conducted operations with partner nations throughout various European Seas, including at-sea training with the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea in April; joint interoperability exercises with the Italian and French navies in the Mediterranean Sea in April; and operating as part of a Surface Action Group with the Royal Navy in the High North and Barents Sea in May.
Porter, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.
U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
USS Porter (DDG-78) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. This ship is the 28th destroyer of her class. Porter was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida. The Arleigh Burke-class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is a United States Navy class of destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar.
The USS Porter is powered by 4 General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines, two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW). It can reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). Armament of the USS Porter includes one 29 cells, one 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launching systems with 90 × RIM-156 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk or RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles, two Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher SSM, one Mark 45 5/54 in (127/54 mm)cannon, two 25 mm chain gun, four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) guns, two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS and two Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes.
The Jugurtha 610 is a Multi Service Offshore Patrol Vessel 1400 (MSOPV 1400) manufactured by Damen Shipyards from the Netherlands, it was delivered to the Tunisian Navy in March 2018. The Tunisian Navy has four of these OPVs on order with Damen, which is building them at its Galati shipyard in Romania.
The OPV is powered by four Caterpillar 3512C diesel driving two controllable pitch propellers. Their maximum speed is estimated to be between 21 and 23 knots. The range is thought to be around 4,000nm and endurance around 25 days. The ships complement is 40 +12. According to Damen, the OPVs have a ‘multi-mission bay’ for a variety of mission-specific, modular payloads as well as another 9m RHIB below the flight deck.
The Tunisian OPVs are also fitted with a small folding crane on the foredeck. The OPVs are also capable of undertaking firefighting with four water cannons that are mounted above the bridge and on a box superstructure behind the funnel.
The FPB Hamilcar 505 of the Tunisian Navy is Type 143 Albatros class of missile bearing fast attack craft, constructed by German shipbuilders Lürssen and Kröger. The German Navy retired the class in 2005 and sold the boats off to Tunisia and Ghana. A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile and offensive warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes.
The Albatros class was armed with two OTO-Melara 76 mm guns for anti-ship and anti-air warfare. They were placed in single mounts fore and aft. The vessels were also armed with four MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles situated in two dual mounts aft but forward of the rear 76 mm gun.[2] The class was also equipped with two 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes that fired Seal wire-guided torpedoes. For Tunisian naavy, Exocet missile launchers have been removed before transfer but retained their guns and torpedo launchers.
